Brown sets Sept. 17 election date for two L.A. legislative seats

Gov. Jerry Brown has set the date for an election to fill two legislative seats left vacant when Bob Blumenfield and Curren Price took their seats this weekend on the Los Angeles City Council.

The election to fill Blumenfield’s former San Fernando Valley Assembly seat and for Price’s former seat, which includes Culver City and Ladera Heights, will be held Sept. 17. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, will advance to a Nov. 19 runoff election.

The two vacancies are the latest in the game of musical chairs that will likely have Democrats hovering on both sides of the two-thirds super-majority line in the Assembly for the next several months. The departure of Blumenfield dropped the Democratic majority in the state Assembly below two-thirds as the party waits for his replacement and the election of someone to replace Pomona Democrat Norma Torres, who won a seat in the state Senate. The primary for the Pomona seat will be held July 23.

Democratic Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell is a strong favorite to take Price’s former Senate seat. That would create yet another Assembly vacancy if she is elected to the Senate this fall.

Price’s departure from Sacramento creates a second vacancy in that house as well. A runoff between Democrat Leticia Perez and Republican Andy Vidak will also be held July 23.